REVIEW: Lone Wolf by Jennifer Ashley

I’ve been trying to figure out why I never warmed up to this book all that much. I’m a huge Jennifer Ashley fan, having read mostly her historicals and one or two of her early paranormals. So I’m truly perplexed at my lack of connection to this story.

I keep wondering if perhaps it’s because this is the first book of this series I’ve read. I’ve not been introduced to any of these characters before, I’ve not seen them grow together through tragedy and triumph. Whatever it is, Ellison and Maria never pulled any emotion out of me.

Maria has joined Shiftertown after being held captive by feral shifters, now being offered safety by the town’s inhabitants. She’s sworn to continue to be independent, doesn’t need a man in her life to get by. But she’s got a number of single shifters sniffing around, among them Ellison, a wolf. He’s ready to mate claim her anytime she’s ready. I do have to say, she gets ready a little quicker than I thought she would. I like that Ellison sits on his porch across the street from Maria to keep an eye on her. He does take his mating to her seriously.

There’s sudden panic running through the shifters when an attempt is made to kidnap one of the cubs. Learning a hard-core, icy thug is behind the attempts, the men come together to hunt the scumbag down, when another attempt is successful. Of course, since the initial kidnapping was made on Maria’s watch, she can’t stay behind, thrusting herself in the midst of the danger. Even when Ellison demands she stay at home, she says she’ll follow anyway. I just hate it when a heroine does that. It makes her seem like she has no brains whatsoever, and that’s just not Maria. She does hold her own, however, when she comes face to face with their target.

This is where the book finally gets interesting, all the action taking place, our shifters in their animal forms, guns blasting away to bring the bad guy down. I do like that there are a multitude of different shifters, including bears among the cats and wolves. Unfortunately, all of that is a little too late to make this one a memorable book for me.

Grade: C

Summary:

Ellison Rowe, a Lupine Shifter, makes it his goal to protect Maria, once held captive by ferals, from male Shifters looking for mates. He likes Maria’s resilience and fire, but she’s been broken, and Ellison wants more than anything to heal her. When a new danger threatens Shiftertown’s cubs, Maria partners with Ellison to stop a cold-blooded criminal.

I have read the whole series (more than once for most of the books) and was a bit disappointed in this one. It introduced a whole lot of new elements into the series all in a big lump and I never really felt the attraction and love between the H&H. I didn’t know they were attracted to each other before this book. In fact, it took me a while to realize who Maria was.

To give the series a second chance, I would recommend reading the very first one, Pride Mates. My very favorite novella in the series is Hard Mated, which is seriously action-packed, but it does rely on some knowledge of the world-building as well.

I’m glad to hear this, Phyllis. Thanks. I know one or two of our reviewers also like the series, so I’m putting my disappointment down to starting in the middle and then blaming a weak novella. I’ll definitely give it a second chance!